Existing sensing control methods of the prior art include sliding along a sensing control strip to control the change in an output (such as vibration intensity, heating intensity, rotation frequency, heat generation amount, etc.). This is by using a control strip configured as a capacitance sensing unit, through which the capacitance change in a corresponding region due to a sliding touch of a conductive substance (such as a finger) on the control strip is detected, and then an output is activated by triggering a control instruction corresponding to the region. Touch sensing is based on the principle of capacitive sensing and the technique of relaxation oscillator.
For example, a segmented massage system is disclosed in published United States Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0060081. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 of the specification thereof, the segmented massage system is capable of selecting a desired mode through buttons 92, 94 and 96; then, when sliding conductive substance such as a finger on a triangular sensing copper sheet 90, different regions of the sensing copper sheet are touched. Since the touched regions of the sensing copper sheet have different areas, different capacitance values are detected by a capacitive sensing unit 50 located behind (see FIG. 1), thus realizing the output adjustment.
For the above-mentioned finger control mode of the prior art, the change in capacitance of the corresponding region due to the user's action is detected by the capacitance sensing unit, and the control is implemented by triggering the control instruction corresponding to the region. However, it is believed that the conductive media (such as the finger) used by different users for operating such a touch panel have individual differences (thickness/thinness, operational flexibility, proficiency, etc.); therefore, the operation may tend to deviate from the region which the user actually wants to touch. Thus, the corresponding instruction cannot be accurately triggered, and a desired control result cannot be obtained. If the contact area between the finger and the touch panel or the contact area that can be sensed by a proximity sensing unit is greater than or less than the area the user wants to touch in an ideal operation, mis-triggering or a non-ideal operation instruction will result, such that triggering of an intended operation instruction is unsuccessful.
Therefore, there is a need for a sensing control apparatus and method for improving control sensitivity, convenience, and reliability of appliances such as massagers, for more satisfactory user experience based on the sensing control.